The Hero of Time vs The Great King of Evil
by jacktheratrix
Summary: Our green tunic wearing, Master Sword wielding hero duels Ganon, the Great King of Evil for the last time! (In OoC)
1. Link and Ganon

Finally, the castle was finished collapsing in on itself, then everything was still. A young man and a young maiden stood about ten yards away from the wreckage, their ears ringing from the sudden cease of noise. After a few moments of seemingly palpable silence, the young woman said "It's over… It's finally over…" The young man simply turned to her and smiled.

Then the girl wearing the pink dress and golden tiara said "Link, I'm sorry I couldn't help you in the battle before." Just then, there was a loud crash from beneath the rubble. Zelda's beautiful face instantly turned from a look of peace and solitude, to one of terror. She took a sharp intake of breath as they both whirled around to face the noise. Instinctively, the young man clad in green interposed himself between the possible danger and the princess.

He drew his sword and strode calmly forward. The weapon in his hand was one of such beauty that it put all other swords to shame. The hilt was a brilliant hue of royal purple, and the blade itself seemed to give off a certain white light, almost as if the sword was endowed with supernatural properties. On his right arm was a magnificent shield, the surface of which was so perfectly polished that it was as reflective as mirror.

He approached the pile of rubble that was still shaking and as he drew near, a blazing ring of fire enclosed him with the rubble and cut Zelda off from him. He whipped around to see that he was trapped with whatever it was beneath the fallen stones of the castle, and as he was turning back to face it, a gigantic figure burst forth and into the air, breathing in horrible, ragged breaths.

Now hovering in the middle of the acting battleground, the Great King of Evil bellowed: "Hyrule _will_ be mine, and I will revel in destroying you, pathetic Hylian! Then the Triforce will be mine, and I will rule your world with an iron fist!" The Hero of Time said nothing but readied himself for battle. Ganon's glared at the diminutive figure before him with scorn, but instead of seeing fear in those bright blue eyes, he only saw a light of defiance. This stoic young warrior sought an intimidation of his own through silence it seemed. This infuriated the Great King of Evil and he released a blood curdling roar full of his seething rage, and transformed himself into his natural state. He grew taller and bulkier, and then two massive horns grew out of his head. Once his morphing was complete, he summoned his weapons.

Link watched as two great blades seemed to grow out of nothing, one in each of the monsters' hands. Then it began to advance on him, its great tail twitching back and forth like a feline on the prowl. As the Great King of Evil drew near to the green-clad hero, he swung one of his colossal swords at Link's head in a deadly horizontal arc. The Hero of Time easily ducked this attack but then came the follow up of the other blade. As the weapon came through, Link attempted a parry, but the force behind the strike knocked the Master Sword clear out of his hand and twirling away, embed its razor sharp tip in the dirt outside the ring of fire.

Link immediately performed a back flip to dodge another attack from the Great King of Evil and ran to a corner to recover. His left arm was completely numb from the first assault. He returned his shield to its place on his back. Recovering feeling in his arm again, reached back for his Biggoron Sword. He held it with both his hands and charged the immense villain who was threatening his home's very existence.

He reached Ganon and they set about their duel. Each was fighting with his fullest ability, pouring all his respective strength and passion into each stroke of their swords, but neither warrior was able to penetrate the other's defense. Link's Goron Bracelet was granting him the strength to repel the Great King of Darkness' attacks, and finally Ganon again went for a horizontal slice, and Link ducked the stroke and somersaulted between the monster's legs. When he mounted his feet again, he slashed with all his might at Ganon's vulnerable tail. The Great King of Evil howled in pain and whirled around, leading with the pommel of one of his swords. Link only just had time to back flip out of the way.

Zelda looked on in terror as the valiant Hero of Time bravely fought the Great King of Evil who was easily twice his size. At each and every one of Ganon's bone crushing sword strokes, she expected Link to buckle and fall, but the young hero stood firm and fought with unbelievable strength for his considerably smaller size. His resilience was astonishing. Then one of Ganon's blows caught Link's sword more firmly than his other strikes, and it was so powerful that the green-clad hero was lifted off his feet and hurled into the ring of fire. Zelda's heart nearly stopped as she watched Link leap up and run out of the fire ablaze. He crumpled to his knees and flames climbed up his body, spreading faster than Epona could gallop. The Hero of Time finally fell to the ground, and Zelda was about to plead to the goddesses for his life, but then a little pink shining being sprung from one of his pouches, and began to encircle him.

Ganon froze in his tracks, watching in disbelief as his victory crumbled to nothing. One moment he had finally destroyed the pestilence that had hindered him from his inevitable triumph, and now here was that puny Hylian, fully healed and ready to challenge him again. Once again he roared in utter fury and charged Link.

The young man sprinted and slid between the beast's legs and heard a huge blade bite the dust behind him. He rose to his feet and struck at the Great King of Evil's tail again. The beast screamed rage and spluttering curses rounded on Link for a devastating blow. The resounding _ting_ that sounded set Zelda's ears on edge. The ringing of their weapons viciously attacking one another ensued once more, and all the time she was afraid to see the brave hero crushed beneath one of Ganon's strikes.

After easily an hour of battle, rain was beginning to pour on the two combatants and the worried-sick onlooker.

Zelda watched as Link struck at the Ganon's tail, and the Great King of Evil fell to his knees, dropping his two swords. Zelda's heart soared at the sight of the monster falling, and with the Hero of Time's long blade pointing at its thick throat.

"This isn't the end, Chosen One," Ganon grunted. Link only smiled at the Great King of Evil, but there was no humor in the smile. Then he drew his sword back, and plunged it into the depths of Ganon's massive torso, penetrating his black heart and out through his back. The beast roared one last time, then picked up a stray, rusted knife from a crushed Stalfos, and sunk it into the Hero of Time's gut. Then he was dead, and fell to the dirt.

Zelda did not see the Evil Incarnation of Darkness' last ploy to destroy the green-clad hero, and when the ring of fire instantly disappeared, she raced toward him, shouting with joy.

"Link, you did it! You saved all of Hyrule!" she neared him, then watched in horror as he slowly sank to his knees. "Link?" Then as she came and saw the front of his body, she gasped and screamed. He then crumpled to his right, falling onto his back.

"_LINK!_" Zelda shrieked.

* * *

..._To be continued_...


	2. Zelda's Anguish

The young princess lunged to where Link was laying sprawled on the wet ground, and knelt beside him. Her face was blanched, and her eyes welled with tears.

Hyrule was safe, but now she realized that she cared more for this simple forest boy than she ever thought possible. He had given his all to protect not only Hyrule, but the princess herself. She realized now that she had suppressed her feelings for him while the darkness still prevailed, but now that it was all over, her emotions burst free. Tears streamed from her eyes and streaked down her beautiful features as she knelt beside her hero. He was growing weaker, and blood was saturating his bright green tunic and turning it brown. He was mouthing words, but no sound was coming out.

Zelda held his head up and stroked his cheek gently. "Link no, please. You have to be okay," she sniffed, her tears flowing freely down her face. She wiped some of his once golden hair out of his eyes – now it was drenched and dirty.

"Zelda," Link whispered weakly, "I… I…"

"Link _I love you!_" she cried, "You've got to make it, _for me!_ I need you Link!" The Hero of Time forced a feeble smile, and reached up to stroke Zelda's soaked strawberry blonde hair. "I love you," he whispered.

Link attempted to sit up, but then mind numbing pain lanced through his whole body.

"Do you not have any potions left?!" Zelda asked, and Link shook his head slowly, "No more fairies?" again, her hero shook his head. He winced as a wave of pain wracked his stricken body. Zelda gently put a delicate gloved hand on Link's severe wound, and drew it back up. Her thin white glove was completely saturated in a deep red liquid. Her tears had begun to ebb, but seeing the agony that her hero and love was enduring for her and for Hyrule, they renewed their flow.

"Oh my Link, my sweet, precious Link, be strong once more, for me, oh please be strong, fight the pain, you simply _have_ to make it!" Link tried another smile, but failed miserably. Then gazing into Zelda's perfect eyes, he was overcome with sadness. Sadness that he might not be able to share a peaceful life with the woman that he loved, sadness that poor Zelda might have to endure the death of a loved one, and sadness that he couldn't protect her if he didn't make it. Then as those thoughts drifted through his mind, he encountered a relentless determination to survive, a determination to survive for Zelda's sake, for Hyrule's sake, for the sages' sake, and for his own sake.

He set his jaw and gritted his teeth. Slowly, he reached down to where the rusty dagger was embedded in his flesh. Then he had a thought, and hesitated. He knew that once he removed the dagger, his precious life blood would stream out of his body, and he would have little chance of making it, so he reached to his shoulder, and attempted to tear off his right sleeve.

The effort was beyond him though. Zelda noticed his action, "What're you trying to do?"

"Have to remove the rusty dagger," he managed faintly. The princess also knew that removing the weapon would speed up the process of his bleeding out, but knew that having rust embedded in one's body was excessively dangerous.

Suddenly she saw that he was slipping from consciousness.

"_LINK! Don't give in!_ Stay with me Link!" the Hero of Time was more awake now, and was fighting with all his might to stay conscious, opening his eyes wide and focusing on Zelda's blurry face. _Wait, blurry?_ he thought, and then terror seized him as he realized that this might be then end, but then in another moment, he was filled with a certain calmness that one only finds when one has come to terms with their fate. He thought about his ending, and was happy that he had been able to save Hyrule. He was happy that he had been able to save the princess. _The princess, Zelda_, he thought. _She sure is a gorgeous Hylian_.

Then he realized that she was crying out to him again, and he was again fully conscious. Then another wave of pain hit him, and he nearly wretched. His mind was completely rendered void from the potency of the pain that encapsulated him. He was aware of nothing else, only the burning sensation of the dagger penetrating his organs. He gasped aloud and clutched at his wound. His mind was useless at this point, as he could focus on nothing but the agonizing pain emanating from his stomach.

Then however, he could feel something else. There was a hand on his cheek. He could hardly feel it, but he knew that it was there. He forced his eyes open and gazed into Zelda's gushing eyes. He could see mildly more clearly now. She was delicately stroking his cheek and jaw line, and it was then he realized that he had to survive. Looking into those perfect eyes that were so anguished almost made him cry out of sorrow for Zelda's situation.

He summoned every last ounce of strength he possessed and reached up to his sleeve. He then felt a new emotion. Anger. Anger at the evil Ganondorf for attempting to take Hyrule by force, and even though he had distinguished Ganon's intensely malevolent life, he still felt fury toward the King of Evil and half wished that he could revive him just to kill him again.

But he redirected his hate for Ganon and used it to fuel his strength in ripping his sleeve off. He roared in pain and effort in tearing it off, but succeeded. Then without taking a second's hesitation so that he couldn't change his mind, he reached down to his wound and tore the dagger away from his skin, hurling hit far away. The next instant he jammed the green fabric down over the gash, putting as much pressure as he could possibly manage on it, ignoring the vehement pain that his body was screaming at him. He gritted his teeth and shut his eyes, and thought of Zelda.

He thought of him and Zelda walking through the royal gardens together, imagining her putting her arm through the crook in his elbow and gazing up into his eyes.

The effort to think of that though was beyond him and his mind was wrenched back to the searing pain and his weakening body. Zelda was still crying for him to push through, and trying to ask him what she could do. He knew that she hated feeling helpless, so he tried to think of something to say to her. His arms giving way and releasing all pressure on the wound he slouched back onto the ground and let out a stifled moan of torture.

"Zelda… please press on the wound…" he murmured weakly. Immediately, she leant down and combined both of her palms and put firm pressure on the wound. Link gasped and she relented, but he shook his head and motioned her to continue, so she leaned down on his stomach once more. His face contorted with agony, but they both knew that it was a necessary measure to stop the bleeding.

"Gaaaaaaaah," he moaned softly. Zelda looked from his wound to his face and burst out crying again.

"Be strong, my hero, please be strong. Stay conscious, I need you!" While his lower abdomen welled with distress, his chest welled with pride when he thought that he had won her heart and saved the day.

Then suddenly his mind felt clouded and he felt extremely drowsy, not to mention light headed. He felt himself slipping from consciousness again and he fought desperately to stay alert. He reached up feebly and grasped Zelda's arm nearest him.

She looked up from the wound to him again, and saw that he was weaker now than he had ever been in the past few minutes. In her distress, she absent mindedly reached up to brush a tear from her face, but in doing so, only smeared blood across her already wet cheek.

"Zelda, I love you…" Link whispered. She hardly heard him but before she could respond, the Hero of Time's body went limp.  
"_LINK!_" Zelda reached for his head and lifted it off the ground. Her vision clouded with tears once more and she threw herself over his body, wailing intensely. She wrapped her arms around his still form, trying to find any comfort at all but there was none to be had. The love of her life had been unjustly taken from her.

_...To be continued..._


	3. Hyrule's Mourning

Slowly, Zelda stood up. She glanced around, her tear streaked face still contorted in anguish. Ganon still lay there on his back, his demonic face caught in an expression of mixed fear and fury. Link's Biggoron Sword still remained embedded to the hilt in the Evil Incarnation of Darkness, the tip of the blade protruding from the beast's back.

Life seemed empty without him, without the one who had just rescued her entire world from hopelessness. The Hero of Time had been the light in the world, the one and only light that Ganon's seemingly omnipotent darkness couldn't douse. Now, without that light, and without that darkness, her life felt utterly meaningless. What would she – no – what _could_ she do now?

"Oh the goddesses!" it was the Sage of Light. He had just crossed the rainbow bridge to the castle grounds where Link had oh so courageously destroyed the Great King of Evil. He saw a soaked, grief stricken princess, standing over a fallen hero and dark beast of pure evil. Even as he watched, the girl sank to her knees once more and covered her face with her hands. Her shoulders began to shake. The man in the brown robe with the broad white mustache strode across the rain saturated battle grounds to where the fragile seeming maiden knelt beside her fallen hero. He approached her and came down to her level, resting on one knee. He placed a gentle hand on one of her shaking shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Zelda. He was truly a paragon of a man."

"Rauru," Zelda whispered, and buried her face in his soft brown robe. She felt comfortable with the old sage, and let her emotions pour out. He only wrapped his caring arms around her slight frame and stroked her back.

"We must hold a hero's funeral for him," Rauru murmured, but the thought of Link being completely gone only renewed Zelda's weeping. One tear slid down his cheek and was caught in his white mustache.

The cortege made their way through the gate of Kakariko village and toward stairs that would lead past the well and to the right, where it would enter the graveyard. There was quite the crowd gathered. On either side of their set path, people stood and sat, waiting for the pallbearers. The slain Hero of Time lay on his bier so that onlookers could toss flowers and flower petals upon him. He wore his blue tunic because Zelda desired his green tunic to be hung in her chamber. His golden gauntlet bearing hands rested on his chest, clutching the handle of his legendary Master Sword, and his Hylian shield rested on top of the sword, centered just above his hips.

The King led the procession in beautiful golden ceremonial plate armor. Beneath the breastplate – which was adorned with an engraving of the Triforce of the Sacred Realm – he wore a royal blue tunic cinched together with a golden belt with large rubies embedded in it. He bore greaves of gold atop his boots, and golden vambraces above his ruby red gauntlets. His crown sat upon his head of snow white hair.

After the King came Zelda, followed by six Hyrulean guards carrying Link's bier, three on each side. Behind them came the seven sages in single file, eyes downcast and hands folded in the smalls of their backs. If one looked directly at the third sage, they could see tears sliding down the tiny girl's pale cheeks and soaking into her small green sweater.

The procession continued up the stairs, to the right of the well, and toward the entrance of the graveyard. Onlookers throughout KakarikoVillage wept for the Hero of Time. In to the graveyard, the cortege bore Link up the path, past the first fence and then to the left. Even Dampé the Gravedigger stood by and watched in silence as the King led Kink's funeral procession to the grave of the Royal Family.  
Finally, two Hyrulean guards standing by each side of the Grave, hauled back the headstone. Just as Hyrule's King began to step aside for the pallbearers, a deafening shout came from DeathMountain. All present suddenly looked up to the top of the mountain, and saw a form flying toward them with astonishing speed. Then the Great Fairy of Magic was hovering above the cortege, her haunting cackle reaching every corner of the graveyard. Her bright pink hair hung in three pony tails, floating out behind her. She sat on the air, and crossed one leg over the other. Her large pink eyes appeared to dig into every person's very soul.

"This young man has paid the ultimate price to free you all from the clutches of Ganon, the Great King of Evil. I too am in debt to the Hero of Time. Should I not heal his wounds and grant his new life? Such is within my power…" Suddenly Zelda's head shot up from its previously drooping position, her eyes wide as saucers with the possibility of Link's revival. The Great Fairy of Power continued, "_Seldarine hörme nuena lo-inaer gaortë celveruênä!"_ No one knew a word of the language that she uttered nor did they know in what language she spoke, but then something most bizarre occurred.

_...To be continued..._


	4. Return of a Hero

Everything was still, and even the Great Fairy of Power hesitated for a few moments. Then the ground began to quake beneath their feet, and a great rumbling arose which seemed to resonate with their very bones. An old man fell down. The Hylian shield slid off Link's bier. Everyone looked about confusedly, and the Great Fairy continued her chanting. It was a mildly haunting sight, what with the ground shaking and all, Zelda thought.

Suddenly a deafening roar emanated from the direction of the ruined Hyrule Castle.

Instantly the Great Fairy ceased her chanting and spoke, "Oh the goddesses, my spell has revived another..."

There were cries of terror throughout Kakariko and people in the graveyard looked nervously to their King. Then all eyes fixed on the terrifying monster that soared through the clear blue sky. It landed in the entrance of the graveyard with a heavy thud, brandishing two great blades.

"Ganon..." The King's deep, rich voice carried across the graveyard to where the Evil Incarnation of Darkness landed. The Biggoron Sword still ran through its torso and the monster spoke, "You may have impaled my chest, but i have no heart. My very soul burns with the wrath of a thousand Dodongos! The Triforce is MINE!" he roared as Hyrule's King stopped to pick up the Master Sword. The Great King of Evil began to stride toward the Hyrulean leader, "My life's blaze can only be quenched by one thing, the -"

"Zelda!" All eyes then turned to the new strong voice. A young man clad in a deep blue tunic stood strong and tall on top of the royal family's tombstone. His face fierce and his bright blue eyes sharp as the Master Sword, he stood brave and resolute. In the arrival of the evil beast that was upon them, no one saw that the Hero of Time had risen from his bier (the guards had set it down in near panic).

Zelda's eyes immediately welled with tears of joy, but Link tossed her his bow. "Light arrows!" He called. She nodded and took aim at the Great King of Evil who was getting dangerously near. Citizens shrunk away, cowering as the massive villain strode confidently toward the Hero of Time.

She focused herself, and then if one looked closely, one could have seen that the razor sharp broad head on the end of the arrow began to glow with a yellow light, but after a few more seconds, it began to shine brightly, and then it was released.

Ganon was still stalking forward when the light arrow hit him, giving off a burst of light. In fact, the burst of righteous light was so bright that it dimmed the daylight for a brief moment, but then when it was back to normal, the Hero of Time was already leaping through the air, catching the Master Sword in mid-jump which was thrown to him by the King of Hyrule. He yelled a mighty battle cry as he flew toward his mortal enemy. Situating it in a double handed grip, point down, the Hero's mighty leap descended upon Ganon.

The Great King of Evil, stunned by the light arrow and momentarily frozen in his place, was struck by the point of the legendary Master Sword square on his forehead. With Link's powerful jump behind it, the magnificent blade penetrated Ganon's head to its hilt. Link's feet landed on the Incarnation of Darkness' shoulders, and he rode the beast to the ground. The Hero of Time flipped off the villain's body, removing his Master Sword at the same time. He landed facing the crowd with an intense gleam in his eyes. He swung his sword a couple of times and replaced it in the beautifully ornate scabbard on his back.

"Ancient creators of Hyrule!" Rauru the Sage of Light called out, "Now, open the sealed door and send the Evil Incarnation of Darkness in the the void of the Evil Realm!"

Then the seven sages joined their power. Onlooking Hylians were shocked to see various colored orbs of light seemingly rise out of the sages' bodies and bolt toward the slain villain. The colors engulfed him, and so bright was their light, that one could not look directly into it without experiencing pain. The air surrounding the Great King of Evil was suddenly swirling like a small tornado, and then it all imploded, leaving nothing but silence. The crowd burst out cheering and the princess was racing toward Link. He planted his mystical weapon firmly in the soft grass and spread his arms wide for her. She leapt into his arms and he grabbed her waist and hoisted her into the air, spinning around three hundred sixty degrees before setting her down again and embracing her. Being shorter than him, She filled his neck with kisses.

"I feared you were lost!" she cried into his chest, "I feared I would never feel your embrace! I feared..." she stopped then, and looked up into his deep blue eyes. Tears of joy gently streaked down her face, but they were both beaming. Then slowly centimeter by centimeter, their faces came together, and their lips came in contact. At that moment he knew he was the happiest he'd ever be.

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

**Hey all, hope you loved it! and hey, it would be TOTALLY sweet if you could hop on over to fictionpress dot com and check out my story over there, i've been working on it for a couple of years and i think it's turning out fairly well, and i would love some other people's opinions on it, It is written similarly to this fanfic, but it is about a young man named Jeremiah who must travel cross-world to a distant race of people to plead for their assistance in a coming war. Anyway, my username over on fictionpress is exactly the same as it is here, and Jeremiah's tale is the only one i've got, so please go check it out, you won't be sorry! Thank you!**


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